Over the past four months, Wall Street and investors have been exposed to about a decade's worth of volatility. The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the "fear index," hit an all-time high during March, with the benchmark S&P 500 losing 34% of its value in less than five weeks. But in the 11 weeks that followed, the S&P 500 bounced more than 40% off of its lows and got within sight of its all-time high.
If investors have learned anything from this recent volatility -- other than the fact that there are still plenty of unknowns surrounding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic -- it's the benefits of long-term investing. While panic-selling can take an immense financial and psychological toll on short-term traders, it's not even a concern for investors with a long-term mindset and a focus on game-changing businesses.
Best of all, periods of heightened volatility and panic-selling have historically proved to be an excellent opportunity to put money to work. If you have, say, $5,000 in disposable cash that won't be needed to pay bills or to cover emergencies, then you have more than enough capital to get rich by investing in the following four stocks.